spring 2012 flowers

I decided to try to give the rose some more room, maybe that will give it some more air too. So I rearranged the bricks so they looked a little more organized and neat. How does it look to you? I also gave it some more water, the other picture is the morning glory that has been in the house all winter, I don't know if it will bloom anymore but I planted it anyway and gave it quite a bit of water, it has been so dry here. The naked lady plant that I forgot and left in the ground has had leaves and they are dying back, so I am pretty sure that at least one plant will bloom this summer. One of the ones that had leaves on it during the winter has gotten leaves on it again, so it might bloom too.

oops, the last one is the rose again, here is the naked lady plant that is growing leaves again.

They all may surprise you with blooms this year. Just gotta have "that word"....patience. Grin

You can see the thorns on rosey now, she is really putting on a show with her green dress.

what's good is, you know that that new growth is stronger than the previous growth. pruning generally benefits roses. sine its a hybrid tea, you should definitely get blooms before winter. they produce blooms in flushes of growth. mine just finished blooming the other day.

when they do bloom, you people on here will be the first ones to see them besides me and my hubby. They are supposed to be big blooms, I hope so.

These two pics I took today, one of course is rosey, she seems to be doing well after all that water we gave her last night, and if I am not wrong, the one of the Iris is verigated! I noticed that it was a lot lighter in color and had some darker color in the lower leaves, I thought maybe it was the way the sun was shining thru the lattice and then I saw it was different colors. How interesting is that? But anyway nature has a lot of surprises she loves to throw at the novice gardener, and although I grow a lot of flowers, I still consider myself a novice. I thought maybe you can tell me if this is a rarity or just like I said, one of natures tricks.

Can you post a picture of the foliage? That is the easiest way to tell if variegated. The variegated bearded irises are called Iris pallida...usually blue or yellow in color.

http://www.backyardgardener.com/plantname/pda_966b.html

http://www.paintedacresfarm.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13_30

here is the foilage, I smelled it and it does not have the strong scent that the others do. Also the Naked Lady that was left in the ground has died off, which means I will have at least one flower this summer, right? Should I water rosey real good again tonight, it is in the 90's right now.

Look what is popping up now, be interesting to see which color blooms first, purple or red.

Is there such a thing as too much water for rosey?

You need to soak the ground around your rose weekly if there is not sufficient rain each week to do so. Roses like deep watering...that is water that is allowed to soak deeply into the ground. Think of it as drinking a whole glass of water at one time, as opposed to sipping water...Roses like drinks, not sips. Also, one deep soaking each week is much better for them than adding a little water every day. Use the same finger test you do for potted plants....if the soil is dry down into the ground for the length of your finger, then it is okay to water. But remember, roses do not want to sit in water for extended periods of time.

I have a question, I have some tiger lilies in the backyard. They get some sun and shade too, one of the neighbors has some that have bloomed, and another has some that are going to bloom soon. Here is a picture of mine, I planted them last summer, is that why they have not bloomed yet? Do they need some time to get established before they do? I know I probably need that word patience, but it is hard when everyone else's is blooming and yours isn't even got the stems coming up yet.

They may not be getting quite enough sun...they are best in full sun, but i would give them until Fall to see if they bloom...if not, maybe then you can move them to a sunnier location.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4424913_care-lily-tiger-flower-.html

Some pictures to share with you. 1.Naked Lady leaves,2.morning glories3.rosey. I thought you might like to see how my flowers are doing, I gave rosey a dose of Miracle-gro the 7th and she really loved it, I am anxious to see which of my morning glories will bloom first, I know they are just coming up so it will be a while. I am going to get some more and put them where they get a lot of sun and see what happens.

Does anyone have cardinal climber seeds that they are willing to part with? I have checked with the couple of stores that are with in walking distance and they don't have any. I have morning glories coming up but I have heard that the hummingbirds like the cc.
Can you plant them in the same area that the morning glories are in? Any advice would be helpful.

Sorry teddy, my stores are out as well, must be a very popular plant! I just took a closer look at my cosmos, some are flowering now, short and sweet, others are still growing, no buds in sight, any idea why that is? They were all seeded at the same time. I've been so busy with the gardens lately that i haven't been on a whole lot. The confederate Jasmine blooming season is ending here, I already miss the cheery scents they made.

I am not sure why that is, when I had mine they acted crazy, they grew and grew and grew and finally bloomed and the blooms were not that great in my opinion. I had one that grew taller than me, and when it bloomed it was no bigger than a pencil eraser! I think it was because it was in the shade and they love sun, I did not plant any this year because I did not want to have to tie them to the lattice again because of their growing so tall. The wind would blow them over and break the stalks. We have had rain today and the morning glories are busting out all over, the other day we just had a few bunches in a few places, now the ones that are up are getting their second set of leaves and more have popped up. Rosey is doing well, she had lake water last night and now this rain, she won't need to be watered for a while.

Could this be a bloom starting? I thought rosey had to grow a lot more before she bloomed.

Yup...Rosie has a bud. She has older roots so not surprised she is pushing out a bloom.

Do you think it will be the peace rose? Is there any way except waiting to see if it is? My hubby took this one, he knows how to get closer without it getting blurry.

No way to say until it opens...

that figures, how long do you think that will take?

Just a few days

The soil seems to be sinking where rosey is, should I try to find some more to put around her or do you think that is alright? I don't want to screw anything up that I have going good. I think I will have to give her another drink tonight, she looks kind of dry and it is hot. I will wait until it cools down this evening though. My hubby gave her a good drink of lake water the other night, but it is very hot and very dry, what do you think? I don't want to drown her, would have taken a picture to show you but my camera batteries are recharging.

Teddy, do the same thing with your rose as with your potted plants. Poke a hole 2 or 3 inches into the ground and check to see if the soil is moist...if so, wait and check again in a day or so...if dry, then fill a gallon milk jug or watering can with water and slowly pour it around the plant, letting it soak in as you water. Roses like good deep soaking in order for their roots to travel downward....giving them little sips of water makes the roots stay very close to the surface of the ground and makes them susceptible to damage and freezes. It is less damaging for Rosie to go a day or two dry than to over-water her.....

This is what I meant when I said the soil was sinking around rosey, I did water her very well and I poured the water on the ground around the roots and waited until it soaked in, then I poured some more until it was gone. Is it ok for one of her roots to be exposed? I think I can dig some dirt from the back yard and fill it in if it needs to be done, I ran out of miracle grow potting soil so I can't put that in there. What do you think?

Yes, you should cover those roots by adding a couple inches of soil to the area around the roots and then cover with some mulch.

I planted my mums outside after I got them out of hibernation, nothing is happening, should I water it some more, or just wait? They were the lavender ones. The stubs are poking out but that is all, am I just impatient or are they a lost cause too? I will take a picture to let you see what I mean.

I won't post any more pics of rosey unless she does something, just went out and it looks like she is pushing the bud up and away from the main part of the plant. Does that mean what I think it does?

It means she is doing what roses do...the bud is growing and should open in the next few days.

Remember I told you that the ground around her roots was beginning to sink? Look what my hubby did! he got some potting soil to cover her up and help cool her down. Is that enough or should we put more on there?

I can't really see how far up the soil comes around the trunk, but you don't want it too deep against the trunk as it looks to be a grafted rose and you don't want the soil above the bud union....just ease it back from the trunk a little and leave the rest covering the roots.

Rosey's bud fell off, I brought it in and took a picture of it.

Do you think she will try another bud? I posted to another web page and they said it looks like something tried to eat it, is there anything we can put around it to protect it from rabbits and other animals that like to eat rose buds? Another person suggested putting a 5 gallon bucket over her at night but what about during the day? Need help here, want to keep her going and have a nice large rose before the cold weather hits.

I found the least appealing part of gardening, poison ivy. Got it on my ankles so bad I had to go to the hospital and have to miss two days of work.

The critters do not usually feed during the day...that is why the bucket was suggested for night protection. She should put out more buds.

So sorry your introduction to poison ivy was so drastic....hope you are feeling better. While you are home, check out this info on pests and diseases, all things you need to know to grow healthy roses.

http://www.olyrose.org/pests.htm

They gave me some hydrosone cream, and a prescription for an antibiotic. I also have some Loraditine to take during the day for the itching.

Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks themoonhowl it is getting a lot better, it does not look like ground up hamburger anymore, it looks more like a foot,lol! I transplanted the Morning Glory that I had in the house inside the trellis, and my hubby ran over it with the weedeater, I thought it was a goner and last night while I was out,(with this antibiotic I am on) I can't be out in the sun so while it was cloudy I was out and this is what I found. And here is rosey. It is not very big, but hopefuly it will grow bigger and twine with its brothers and sisters.